Chapter 5: Entering the Thunder Pool (Part 2)

Yan Ruodai said coldly, “What do you mean?”
Juehu Miluo, hearing the unfriendly tone in Yan Ruodai’s voice, immediately smiled and said, “I’m just curious. It’s nothing serious.”
Yan Ruodai replied, “This kid ran up to my thunder platform. Do you think I should ignore it?”
Juehu Miluo smiled politely and said, “Of course, you must intervene. Hehe, I was too forward in asking. Thank you very much.”
Guo Shier felt a bit puzzled. The four major families seemed quite friendly and well-acquainted with each other. Calmly, he said, “Fortunately, with Senior Yan Ruodai’s help, we happened to find the coordinates of the Minor Thunder Realm. We thought it was just an ordinary secret realm, so we came in.”
Juehu Miluo nodded and said, “Since you’ve met me, follow me. Thank you again, Senior Yan Ruodai.”
Guo Shier inwardly groaned. He didn’t want to follow Juehu Miluo at all, but he couldn’t refuse now. He said, “Yes, thank you, Senior Yan Ruodai.”
Yan Ruodai seemed unconcerned. Waving her hand, she said, “With Senior Juehu Miluo leading the way, you should be safe.”
As a supreme expert, Yan Ruodai could treat younger people kindly, even helping those who weren’t from her family. This made Guo Shier like her even more, and he also developed a positive impression of the Gu Dai family. He noticed that most experts with altars behaved this way, while some great sage masters were rather arrogant.
Yan Ruodai asked, “What are you all doing here?”
The tall man was Shi Yanxilong. He clearly was very interested in Yan Ruodai and said earnestly, “Shi Qini wants to enter the Thunder Pool.”
Yan Ruodai was shocked and said, “Enter the Thunder Pool? Are you joking?”
Shi Qini was thin and looked young, but everyone present knew he was an old man. He had a strange appearance—monkey-like features, round eyes that kept rolling around, giving him a sly look. He said, “I’ve crafted a thunder-based sacrificial artifact with great power. I want to go to the altar to take a look. As long as I don’t touch the altar, I shouldn’t face any retaliation.”
His companion, Monochini, looked worried and tried to dissuade him, “Shi, don’t go. It’s too dangerous. Countless professionals have died here. You know that. Why go down?”
Monochini was a burly man, but his voice was gentle. Guo Shier shuddered, thinking, “Why does this guy speak in such a feminine way?”
Shi Qini stubbornly said, “No, I must try! I’m not joking…”
Yan Ruodai curled her lips and said nothing, showing a look of disdain.

A few others tried to persuade him as well, but it was clear to everyone that Shiqini would not listen to any advice and insisted on entering Leitan. Monochini said, “Then I’ll go with you.”
Shiqini replied firmly, “No, stay here! I’ll go down! If anything happens to me, you must be responsible for informing our family.”
Monochini sighed helplessly and after a long while said, “Go then!”
Guo Shier was quite impressed by this guy’s courage, but he couldn’t speak in such a situation. He also really wanted to see what Leitan was like. From the edge, only a huge opening could be seen, surrounded by lightning, making it impossible to see deeper inside.
Juehu Miluo said, “Step back.”
Guo Shier replied, “Yes!” He and the others quickly stepped back. Juehu Miluo also retreated, and everyone else moved away from Leitan, unleashing their own altars. Guo Shier and the others immediately felt dizzy. All of them had solid altars—ranging from two layers at the least to as many as four for the unassuming Ling Zhenren.
Ling Zhenren always had a smiling face, but he wasn’t unremarkable at all. Guo Shier knew he was a skilled member of the Ancient Trueperson family and hadn’t expected him to be so powerful—turning out to be the strongest among them.
This time, Guo Shier and the others sat on Juehu Miluo’s altar. His strength was one level below Yan Ruodai’s, with only two layers of altar. Of course, strength wasn’t entirely determined by the number of altar layers, but it served as a reference—common sense told them that two layers couldn’t compare to three.
Shiqini also had a three-layer altar. The sacrificial treasure he had crafted was a small bottle. Juehu Miluo recognized it at a glance and said, “It’s a thunder bottle made using ancient methods. Hmm, interesting. It might just work.”
Shiqini’s eyes stopped wandering and fixed firmly on Leitan. At that moment, he showed the professionalism of a master—highly focused spirit，expression extremely serious。 Guo Shier felt the power of a true expert.
The shape of that thunder bottle resembled a gourd from his past life—two spherical parts at the top and bottom, with a narrow waist in between. The mouth of the bottle was flat and pure black, covered with dense silver runes, with faint arcs of electricity flashing across it—clearly a sacrificial treasure of the thunder attribute.
Shiqini’s altar had three layers: the lower layer was circular, the middle layer was square, and the top layer was also square. At first glance, it resembled a copper coin, giving off a sense of “heaven round and earth square.”

Guo Shieru observed carefully and noticed an ancient rune on each side of the altar. He now recognized these ancient runes—they were the runes of thunder and lightning, surrounded by countless other related ancient runes, most of which were related to water, with a very few unique runes related to metal, forming small rune arrays. The entire altar appeared magnificent and beautiful, especially as the runes flickered, with countless arcs of electricity sparking. Seeing such vivid ancient runes, Guo Shieru felt envious. After coming into contact with ancient runes, he fell in love with this form of writing. Different from the scripts he had learned in his past life, ancient runes were far more vivid; once their meanings were understood, each rune seemed to have its own life. Describing ancient runes not only granted them power and great strength but also created beautiful writing, much like reading a fascinating article in his past life, which could deeply move one. Thus, every altar was formed from the soul of a professional. Shiqini gently tapped the thunder bottle, and with a loud crack, a bolt of lightning shot out from its mouth, turning into countless arcs that instantly enveloped the altar. The thunder bottle gradually rose, hovering above his head, spinning rapidly, with countless virtual lightning symbols connecting to the altar. Shiqini turned to Monochini and smiled slightly. Guo Shieru clearly saw tears glistening in Monochini’s eyes, showing the depth of their bond. Monochini clenched one fist tightly and pressed it against her mouth, while waving the other hand vigorously. Shiqini made the altar fly above the Thunder Pool. It was as ifMars had fallen into a pile of gunpowder—countless bolts of lightning erupted from below, creating a highly eerie sensation. Normally, lightning came from above, but this time it surged upward from below, hitting the bottom of Shiqini’s altar directly. The electric current was quickly absorbed by the thunder bottle, so it couldn’t harm the altar or Shiqini. A spell was cast, and Shiqini shouted, “Sink!” The altar slowly rotated once and sank toward the Thunder Pool. The lightning struck the bottom of the altar like gushing water, only to be swiftly dissipated by the thunder bottle. Shiqini stared solemnly at the thunder bottle—a sacred artifact he had crafted using many precious materials, specifically designed for exploring the Thunder Pool. The thunder bottle sank little by little, and gradually, the fierce lightning submerged the altar. No one could see clearly due to the blinding light from the lightning, forcing them to close their eyes. Juehu Miluo said, “This sacred artifact is quite good.”

In just a moment, Shiqini’s altar sank and rose three times but failed to descend. The lightning in the Thunder Pool was vastly different from the natural lightning in the sky—it seemed like dancing spirits that prevented the altar from falling, and even if it managed to descend, it was quickly pushed back up.

Shiqini’s expression darkened. He hesitated briefly before firmly diving downward again.

The thunder bottle expanded to two meters tall, turning into a giant bottle. Shiqini roared and cast dozens of spells in succession. The thunder bottle absorbed lightning at an accelerated pace and instantly sank into the Thunder Pool. The entire pool resembled boiling water, with lightning creating a blinding silver-white glow.

Continuous booming noises rang out. Everyone stared intently at the Thunder Pool.

No one knew what was happening inside, only that the roaring grew louder, accompanied by bursts of explosions. It was as if countless firecrackers had been lit beneath the pool, their crackling sounds shaking one’s soul.

Guo Shier said in a low voice, “I wonder what’s going on down there. It feels terrifying!”

Juehu Miluo replied, “From time to time, professionals try to enter the Thunder Pool, but so far, none have succeeded.”

Guo Shier asked, “Can those who go in… come back?”

This question surprised Juehu Miluo, as Guo Shier was first concerned about the safety of the professionals, not anything else. This made him like Guo Shier more. He said, “At least half of the professionals die in there. Those who manage to escape are usually injured. Those lucky enough might be fine, but most end up perishing in the end.”

Boom!

The ground trembled violently. Monochini screamed, “Shi!”

Guo Shier was startled by the sudden cry.

Zhou Xiaoling couldn’t help but sigh, “How touching…”

Guo Shier, Eagle Demon, and Luo Zhan shuddered involuntarily. Juehu Miluo also turned to look at her. Zhou Xiaoling said confidently, “They must be brothers!”

Guo Shier replied casually, “Yeah, brothers…” He had a strange feeling but didn’t know why.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out incessantly. Monochini’s face turned pale. He suddenly tried to force his altar into the Thunder Pool, but was stopped by Ling Zhenren, who said, “Monuo, calm down!”

Monochini cried, “I have to go down! I have to go down!”

Yan Ruodai said, “If you go down now, it will only distract Shiqini!”

Monochini froze immediately. He kept asking, “What should I do? What should I do?”

Ling Zhenren said, “Wait!”

Boom!

A silver light shot out from the Thunder Pool. Shiqini’s appearance was horrifying; the altar was in tatters, with the lowest circular altar completely shattered, leaving only a few fragments. A large piece was missing from the middle altar, and only the layer where he sat remained intact.
The thunder flask was dull in color, clearly severely damaged. White smoke billowed from Shiqini’s body, his hair stood on end, and his face appeared painted in patches of black and white. He looked panicked and shouted as soon as he appeared, “Be careful!”
Roar!
A monster’s head formed from lightning emerged from the Thunder Pool.